Keys
by Raven Sharpe
Summary: A struggling student and a shady composer share an apartment. The twist? They're both men. Modern day.


I guess I should have expected this. I had never been a lucky person. I've always been a bit clumsy and air-headed. I have never won any kind of contest and could trip over a perfectly flat surface. I've got the bruises and scrapes to prove it. I was just never prepared for the stroke of bad luck that I would fall upon that miserable Friday.

I had grabbed my bags from the empty house early. The sun was just starting to crawl miserably up above the horizon as I tossed my bags into my old, beat-up sedan. I looked back at the peeling white paint on that decrepit, old house one last time. The screens were chock full of holes and the screen door had always been crooked. They were going to tear it down next week or so the owners had said. All of the memories of slipping around on the mossy roof, trying to plug holes with Dad on a blistering, hot summer days and hanging our more or less clean socks out on the rusting clothes line in the backyard, they would be torn down and some bland cookie-cutter house would sit there instead.

I tripped over the long grass one last time and scraped my hands on the pavement as I fell. At least I'd never have to deal with that again. No. I was headed to the land of promise - college. The promise of a better life lay ahead of me. I had to hurry.

The dormitory opened at 8 a.m. and I had an audition at nine. I would have just enough time to check into my new room and change clothes before running over to my audition. It would be a bit tight, but I could make it.

I had entered the university undecided as to my major. I was hoping to get into the music program, but if I couldn't do that, I didn't know what I'd do with my life. I had always loved playing the piano. I started lessons when I was six, but was always held back by my fear of performing for a crowd. My palms slipped on my steering wheel from the nervous sweat of merely thinking about playing for the three professors who would decide my fate today.

I was playing Liszt's _Annees de Pelerinage_, "Angelus! Priere aux anges guardians". It was a simple, yet beautiful piece. The cadences were irregular like the chiming of bells. I spent months working on this piece for hours on end, trying to get it as close to perfection as I could. I prayed that it would impress the professors enough to let me in and hopfully give me a small scholarship. I was paying in-state tuition, but with the cost of university housing the meager sum of money I had gotten from my inheritance would run out quickly. I'd have to find a job. I wondered what kind of place would hire someone as clumsy as me.

After three hours of putting down the road, hoping that my rusting sedan would make it all the way to the university, I finally pulled into the packed student parking lot. I drove around and around the parking lot, finally spotting a small space my car would be able to fit into. The lot was situated behind the dorm my acceptance letter said that I would be housed in. I cranked up my window and lugged the smaller of my two bags over my shoulder before slamming the car door and heading off across the street.

The dorm was a sad, rundown-looking building. It had seen many classes of freshman. The air-conditioners that hung out of the windows like cigarettes out of an old man's mouth and were haphazardly pieced together with duct-tape. Cracks ran through the bricks and there was a deeper dent in the building where it looked like a drunk had slammed into the wall. On the roof of the building, I saw a metal mesh walkway much like the type you'd see in a prison. I half expected to see barbed wire to go along with it. The two pillars that had once proudly stood outside the door, now were thin from the cleaning department having to sandblast graffiti off of them.

I stepped into the lobby. It was no more cheerful than the outside of the building. A line of about 10 people stood in front of a curving desk that had seen better days. Chunks of wood were missing off of the front panel and through the one, I could see the girl at the front desk was texting her friend instead of paying attention to the parents bickering over the novel of paperwork in front of them. I hoisted my bag higher up onto my shoulder and walked to the back of the line. I watched silently as the girl at the front desk finally looked up from her phone and started to help sort out the couple's problems. She rolled her eyes in boredom and gave up after a minute and went back to her phone.

I groaned quietly as I checked my phone. It was ten after. I needed to leave here by 8:50 to make it to the audition on time. I would need to clean up a bit and put on the nice pants and shirt that I was carrying in my bag. I closed my eyes and mentally played through my audition piece. The uneven tones of the keys tolled through my mind like droplets of water dripping from the eaves. I could almost see the bell tower and courtyard that inspired the piece - almost smell the moss and lichen growing on the damp gray stone.

"Hey. You gonna go or not?" A harsh voice and a jab from behind broke my reverie. I bit my lip at my stupid air-headedness. I looked up at the clock behind the desk. Damn! It was already twenty to the hour! I stepped up to the counter.

"Ah, hello?" I greeted the mentally absent receptionist.

"Just a minute," she said not even looking up. She put the last few words onto her text, sent it, then looked up to me. "Name?"

"Christopher Daae."

She shuffled through a crate of foldered papers, frowned and sorted through again. "How do you spell that?"

"D-a-a-e." She shuffled through the papers once more.

"Huh, I don't see you anywhere in here."

"Really? I'm sure that I registered for housing," I mused. I thought back. I remembered filling out the lengthly housing application and sending it in.

"Did you get an acceptance letter?"

"Yeah, it should be right here," I mumbled as I sifted through the junk in my bag and pulled out a crumpled white sheet of paper. I flattened it out on the counter and presented it to her. She stared at it for a few minutes, then shuffled through her agglomeration of paper.

"That's weird. I don't see you here." She looked puzzled down at my letter again. "Let me get Deb." The girl disappeared into a back room. I looked down and picked at the dents in the counter. It looked like it had once been a decent counter, but years of neglect had left it uneven and scratched. I looked up at the clock. 8:49. At this rate I wouldn't have time to change clothes.

A short, older lady waddled out from the back room. She grabbed her spectacles from around her neck and placed them on the bridge of her nose, looking down at the acceptance letter in her hand like it was a bag of dirty cat litter. She rifled through the box of papers and then looked up at me.

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't find your name here. This letter looks authentic, but I'm sorry. We have no open rooms for this year. Perhaps you can find other accommodation?"

I peeked at my clock. 8:55. I had to get out of there. "I'm sure I can find something. Thanks. Sorry for bothering you." I grabbed my bag and walked quickly for the exit, not even bothering to grab the worthless acceptance letter from the old bat's hands. Damn it. I was going to be late to my audition. As soon as I was out the door, I started sprinting towards the recital hall. I didn't even look at the crosswalk signs and as I was running across the road, I heard tires squeal and a horn as a black car with tinted windows screeched to a halt inches away from my shins. Panicked I looked up at the car and mouthed, "Sorry." and kept running like my life depended on it. I suppose it did in some ways. My future was dependent on this audition. Make it and I was set. Fail it and I didn't even know what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I ripped open the music building's doors and tripped up the uneven stairs into the main recital hall.

This hall, like most of the rest of the school looked like it had seen better days. The cushions on the seats were a faded and stained red and looked permanently indented in the middle. The air smelled of dust and mildew and some other dank, unidentifiable smell. I could see the impatient silhouettes of three professors - one female, two male. The one male professor impatiently looked down at his watch before looking up at me.

"Now that out student is finally here, we can begin," he stated. I walked up onto the stage. The stage was the only thing in the room that was lit. The stage itself was worn and littered with lines of variously colored tape from previous productions. The piano itself was a Steinway concert grand piano. It's long elegant curves were marred by a few scratches from set pieces bumping into it. The keys were yellowed with age and disuse, but the keys were even and held no trace of dust. The small bench creaked as I sat down. I wasn't a very heavy person, but I said a quick prayer that it would hold my weight. I pulled it out a little from the piano, then looked out at the audience, sweat starting to stain my blue t-shirt.

"Now, you understand that we take only the most professional and talented of players. We don't strive for excellence here at the University, we achieve it. And it shows. Each of our graduates have highly successful careers in the field of music. We accept only the best, and we do not accept mistakes or failures." I heard a pen click and some papers rustle as he paused his speech. "Mr. Daae. You have Liszt's _Angelus!_ prepared for us today?"

I cleared my throat and nodded nervously.

"Then begin when you are ready."

I wiped my hands on my pants. _Go to your happy place_, Christopher, I thought. I suppose that it's not really a _happy_ place, per say, but that place in my mind is certainly peaceful. It's a dark room with a single grand piano and a single glass of brandy. It's lit only by a candle or two and is never chilly. It's a bit lonely, but I can almost smell the hardwood floors beneath my feet as I play one sad song after the other. It just feels beautiful and, I suppose, poignant is the word I'm looking for. I started to play, the first chimes of the notes, echoing out from the piano. I close my eyes and imagine the burn of the brandy as it goes down my throat.

"That's enough for today." The old man stops me after only half a page of music.

"But -"

"We have heard enough. You will receive an e-mail with out decision soon."

I nodded reluctantly and bowed slightly, "Thank you for the audition." I grabbed my bag from the bottom of the stairs. Dejected, I walked down the aisle in shame. I was certain that I just failed that audition. I walked out the auditorium doors and started down the stairs and hit my last stroke of bad luck for the day. I tripped and fell down the entire flight of stairs. Each punishing step skidded down my back, adding another bruise to my skinny frame. The last thing I heard was the crack of my head hitting the concrete landing.

-((O))

**I'm baa-ack! The job I'm working this summer is incredibly boring, so I thought that I'd get back into writing a bit. I was in desperate need of a hobby. I'm not sure how often I'll update yet. We'll see how bored I get.**

** All my love and wishes for reviews (seriously they made reviewing so easy, so just do it),**

** Raven Sharpe**


End file.
